What was the holy kiss in the early church?
The holy kiss in the early church was an embrace exchanged as a greeting, comparable to the embrace still practiced among Middle Easterners. It was not a sensual act but a culturally accepted form of physical contact among believers, showing that refraining from touching a woman to excite sexual senses did not abolish affectionate greetings.
Les explains that Paul was writing to the Corinthians, who had come out of an immoral, idolatrous background where the marriage relationship had little moral integrity or fidelity. Paul's statement that it is good for a man not to touch a woman does not mean believers should avoid marriage or ordinary contact with the opposite sex. Rather, it means a man should not get physically involved with a woman to excite the sexual senses. Les clarifies that this teaching certainly does not abolish shaking hands with women. In fact, even in the early church they granted the holy kiss, where they would embrace, much like Middle Easterners still do. So the holy kiss was an embrace, a culturally accepted greeting within the early church.